


Fault

by ConfirmedBachelor (schizophrenic)



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Blood, Implied Slash, M/M, One Shot, Romance, Short One Shot, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-10
Updated: 2014-03-10
Packaged: 2018-01-15 07:06:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1295908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schizophrenic/pseuds/ConfirmedBachelor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's never messed up before and when he expected punishment, he didn't receive it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fault

The steady click of sandals against a hand stone ground; enthusiasm in the feet though the face told another story. Lips were drawn south – brows knitting and eyes locked carefully at the ground before him, making sure that his getas didn’t snag on a divot beneath him. It was late, dark, the sky above them hardly illuminated whatever dangers surrounded them in thick trees and bushes; it was hardly ever a problem before, but Haruka couldn’t help but feel anxious. The first time he felt the subtle increase in heart race that night, it was because they were caught off guard hours back.

None of them were stupid, and the young kitsune was as certain as he could be, that Sesshoumaru wasn’t going to lead them into danger with no plausible reason. After all, they had a human child with them, and Rin, despite her confidence, wouldn’t stand a chance against most of the evils that existed. He had heard the story of what happened to her when she first met Sesshoumaru, and he was sure that a repeat would be less than desired, especially now. Haruka was tired, despite himself, and the reason they had been walking in the first place was to find a place to rest for the remainder of the night. There were only five or so of them – grotesque looking demons that Haruka, in his short time, could swear that he had never seen before in his life. In the amount of time that these beings existed before them he couldn’t tell where they were from or from what form of demon they were, not that it mattered much anymore. His lack of attention on the problem at hand was likely why things went awry.

They were picking them off easily, blood coating claws and attire, but a scream, high and recognizable caused both men to turn. Elongated fingers coiled around the young girl’s throat, pulling her off the ground so that he was face to face with huge black eyes, blinking and examining. It wasn’t long before she fainted, and Haruka, whose duty as a follower was to watch over Rin was frozen, a clearly bothered Sesshoumaru jumping into place instead. The problem was that Haruka wasn’t scolded; this had never happened before and knowing how angry this man could become, the shorter demon expected harsh punishment, but, when he approached to apologize for his mistake, the other male simply walked away, continuing on the path that they had started on prior. 

And now, Rin rested on strong shoulders, face nestled against shoulder length hair just nearly as dark as her own. He checked her injuries before catching back up with his leader, and found little damage, but he was still bothered by the other male’s reaction. He had been travelling with this man for a while now, and knew very well of how he could be – emotionless, aloof, and rather cold – but, there had been times when he had seen care in his eyes, though he knew he’d never want to admit it. Jaken had assured him under his breath that things would be fine, but it was hard when—

“Haruka,” sudden, the male before him stopped, turning to glance at the startled demon behind him.

“Yes?” Haruka still sounded confident, as per usual, honey colored eyes glancing up to meet bright gold.

“Set the girl down to rest here; we’re walking further.” And he turned, another step taken before he added, “Jaken, stay with her.”

A sharp ‘yes, m’lord’ was heard behind them, and Haruka gently pulled Rin from his back, setting her down by a tree, a gentle pat to her head before he followed after. It wasn’t a long walk, Sesshoumaru picked up his pace when Haruka was at his side, running after a moment but stopping by a pond. He took a seat, and the kitsune sat beside him, eyes gazing over his own reflection in the water to keep from making eye contact.

“You fool,” he heard from beside him, the mock in his voice making him wince.

“What did you expect me to do?” A calm voice retorted, already faint heart beat steady increasing under a too tired chest.

“Your duty.” Succinct, yet still painful.

Eyes finally lifted to meet a lax gaze, flat lined lips, yet, there was still a calm in the way he was watching him. Haruka found himself staring for a brief moment before he sighed, nervous fingers clawing through his own hair. 

“I’ve never shown fault before.” He thought to add, dipping one of his fingers into the water, watching as dried blood pooled around his digit, before fading into clear.  
“But this fault could have ended her life.”

Finger retracted as if the water had wronged him, hand then forming a fist and punching into the ground beside him, a low growl forming in his throat. He wasn’t angry at Sesshoumaru for saying it, as he knew it was true – Haruka’s temper just left a lot to be desired. It couldn’t be helped – his body was not his own, and he was certain that such a fact affected his mentality at times. He was made by a demon sculptor who spend his time making tiny clay figurines that held the souls of captured demons. When Inuyasha found him to take a jewel fragment away from him, he had been working on a life sized version of his dolls, making this one from the body of a demon he had captured prior. Inuyasha apparently never killed the man that made him, but Haruka was just glad, at least at this point, that he had been freed. He did run off with the jewel shard just to see how badly the group wanted it, originally not understanding the importance of it.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled after a moment, hand flattening against the ground.

Sesshoumaru didn’t say anything, his eyes looking off into the distance for a long moment before he nodded. It seemed that he accepted it well enough, and the kitsune sighed, washing the rest of the blood from his hands.

“Why are you still travelling with me?” It seemed like a simple enough question, though Haruka hardly had an answer.

“Does it bother you that I’m still around? I could leave if you so desire.” He was tempted to go off when Inuyasha tracked him down for the shard, but decided against it when he saw just how disorganized their group was. Too loud, when one wasn’t arguing, someone was being smacked in the face – and that /damn/ necklace. Truth be told, Haruka gave up the shard just to get them to leave.

“You can stay if you wish.” Sesshoumaru turned to face him, but Haruka shook his head a hum of displease leaving his lips.

“No, that doesn’t answer my question. Do you /want/ me to leave?” Haruka crawled closer, and action that he knew from experience that the demon lord hated because the proximity between them was being decreased.

Sesshoumaru looked away, eyes on the water, and a soft sigh leaving his lips.

“No.”

“No?” Haruka paused, sure for a moment that he was being jested.

“No. I would prefer it if you stayed.” And he rose his hand, fingers gently combing through black tresses, before he was back to standing, so quickly that Haruka was unsure if the action had even been done. 

Star struck, Haruka was still, eyes shifting up to meet a still distant gaze, expectant and waiting for the shorter man to stand as well. There had never been any physical contact between them before, for the most part, nothing of that sort – nothing comforting. He pushed himself up to standing, the two of them lingering there for a moment sharing a gaze before turning and heading back to where they had left the others. They sat beside each other against a tree, a brief glance around the area before it was deemed safe enough. Haruka picked the sleeping girl up and held her on his lap, fingers playing in her hair. It wasn’t too long before the kitsune was asleep him as well, head lolling over to rest against a strong shoulder. Sesshoumaru looked down at the sleeping male, and then turned back to looking forward, seeming to ignore the contact.

“M’lord,” Jaken chimed, pulling the older demon’s attention, “aren’t you going to move him?”

The dog demon was silent, as if contemplating on moving the kitsune away, before he offered a glare instead.

“Hush, Jaken.”

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written on this website in a very, very long time. Let's see what happens.


End file.
